CARROLLTON, Ky. — Amanda Woosley has lived in her home on Lower Mason Street since she was a child. It sits a quarter mile from the banks of the Kentucky River.
She was 16 when the Flood of March 1997 pushed the Ohio and Kentucky rivers to some of their highest levels on record, devastating Carrollton and numerous other Kentucky communities.
"It was rough. Four foot (of water) in the house. Lost a lot of things," Woosley said. "They came down and told us that we needed to get out, and we got what we could."
It wasn't easy, but after weeks of cleaning and community support, Woosley's parents were able to salvage the home and move back in.
"It took my mom and dad their life savings and help from the Red Cross — they were a big help," she said. "And family and friends, even the county. Back then, they had tobacco warehouses that they emptied and let us put our items in there, and we stayed with my aunt and her husband. We were lucky. Most folks weren't."
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Two decades later, flooding in 2018 left Woosley's childhood home surrounded again by high water.
"It made it to the floor joists of the house. We were lucky and were able to just clean up from that, but we still had to move everything out," she said.
Her home has stood the test of time — and Mother Nature's might. But as floodwaters swallow it up for a third time, Woosley worries whether luck may have run its course.
Watch here to see the impacts of flooding in Carroll County:
Lower Mason Street was one of six areas within Carroll County placed under mandatory evacuation orders over the weekend, days before the Kentucky River upstream crested Tuesday at a near-historic level around 54 feet.
1997 was the last time the county issued mandatory evacuations.
County officials initially anticipated flooding worse than that in 1997 due to a miscommunication with Frankfort about Dix's Dam. Carrollton Mayor Robb Adams said he was informed by Kentucky Emergency Management that 10 gates were opened accidentally, but Adams later clarified that Harrington Lake had gotten too high and the gates were opened as part of a planned release.
"We have discovered at this point the impact from that release, planned or not, has impacted us less than we thought yesterday," Adams said during a Monday press conference. "It has given us higher totals, but fortunately not the same impact they relayed to us. And the end of the day, we should be grateful we didn't get that impact."
Still, water levels rose several feet in parts of the county. By Tuesday afternoon, condensation could be seen on the windows as spillover from the Kentucky River inundated her home. A parked car in the backyard was nearly submerged, only a few inches of it still visible above the water line.
"I have a wedding dress that's in the top of the closet that we left because we didn't expect it to get that high, so we still have some things that are in the closet that are up and we have stuff on top of the kitchen counter and we did leave our kitchen table to put stuff on it as well," Woosley said. "We're going to lose some stuff, and floor joists and walls are going to have to be redone, but we'll redo it ... it depends on how bad it is. There may be no coming back this time either. Three floods on a floor joist. That's a lot."
Woosley and her family are among those who heeded evacuation orders, though they didn't go far. They're taking refuge next door at Woosley's parents' house, which sits just before the barricade blocking off the stretch of Lower Mason Street now underwater.
County officials said hundreds of people have taken shelter at General Butler State Park and Camp Kysoc. Two people were rescued from high water but were uninjured.
Michael Ratliff, Carroll County Emergency Management and EMS director, said 15 firefighters and four rescue boats manned by personnel from surrounding communities are on standby.
North Carolina Task Force One is even lending a helping hand. That crew conducted damage assessments Tuesday at a waterlogged RV park in Worthville and in Prestonville.
"It's going to be rough," Woosley said. "It's going to be a long time. A long time before we're able to get back in, but there's some people who have completely lost their home. There's no coming back."
As of Tuesday night, the Kentucky River was sitting at just above 52 feet. It is projected to stay in the major flood stage through Wednesday afternoon.
Carroll County officials said they do not have specific requests for additional personnel or supplies. However, anyone wanting to donate items such as water, non-perishable food, animal food and more must first call 502-523-2817 before delivering anything.
All approved donations must be dropped off at the Carroll County Road Department at 607 Park Avenue in Carrollton.
"It's heartbreaking, but we're lucky to be alive and still have our family and friends and all the people that came to help us," said Woosley. "They were great, and still calling and checking. Even my hairdresser called to check on us. We live in a community — we have really good people. (The worst disasters) bring out the best in people. You may have a few bad people, but there's more good in the world than bad, and we're thankful for it."
